Bumper Cars
by FaithinBones
Summary: This Valentine's Day story is for Kathy (Dukefan1982) and is part of the Bonesology Valentine's Day Fanfic gift exchange.


This Valentine's Day story is for Kathy (Dukefan1982) and is part of the Bonesology Valentine's Day Fanfic gift exchange. The person that was supposed to write a story for her couldn't do it, so I'm pinch hitting. Kathy wanted Brennan, Christine and Hank. She also wanted something that takes Brennan out of her comfort zone. She didn't have a preference when it came to rating. Hope this is what you wanted.

I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Booth had been gone for two weeks and Brennan noticed that her children were becoming anxious, especially Christine. He had been given a special assignment, very hush hush and he hadn't been in personal contact with his family since he'd left. Brennan received messages from him every evening via Caroline Julian, letting her know he was fine, but not being able to hear his voice was starting to affect her as well as her children.

"Mommy . . . is Daddy coming back?" Christine remembered the summer her father was gone and when he came back how sad he was. Unable to think of anything else, she was afraid that was happening again. "I want my Daddy."

Brennan heard the tears in her daughter's voice even if the child was bravely keeping the tears from actually falling. "Honey, Daddy is fine. He just has something special he has to do for the FBI. Don't you remember when Daddy went away for a week, four years ago? He was fine then and he's fine now."

"This is longer than a week, Mommy." Christine was trying to be a brave, but she was afraid her father wasn't coming back home. Though her brother Hank was three years old, he had picked up on his sister's anxiety and because he didn't really understand what was going on, he nervously cried whenever Christine mentioned their father.

His tears flowing down his chubby cheeks, Hank held on to his mother's pant leg while Christine clasped her mother's hand tightly. Both children were miserable and wanted their father back home.

Brennan knew she needed to find a way to assure her children, but she wasn't sure what she could do to help them. Her constant assurances weren't working and the fact that Aubrey was working on the case with Booth left her with one less ally to help her children. Angela and Hodgins had tried to help by having a barbeque at their house the previous weekend, but Christine and Hank spent most of that day sulking and holding onto Brennan's hands. They refused to play with Michael Vincent and after two painfully awkward hours with her friends, Brennan had took her children back home.

Desperate to make her children happy, Brennan remembered one of Booth's favorite places to take Christine on Daddy Daughter day, someplace called Go kart World. She knew he'd been there with Christine a few times, but she had never been and certainly Hank hadn't being so young. "How would you like to go to Go Kart World?"

Surprised with her mother's offer, Christine stared in wonder at her. "You want to go to Go Kart World?"

Irritated at her daughter's incredulous voice, Brennan frowned. "Yes, of course. Don't you want to go?"

"Oh yes, Mommy." Christine quickly let her mother know she wanted to go. If her mother was willing to take them to her favorite amusement park then she was more than happy to go. "Can we do bumper cars?"

"What is bumper cars?" Brennan had never heard of bumper cars and wondered why her daughter seemed so eager to 'do' them, whatever that meant.

Excitement growing in her, Christine gushed her answer. "Oh Mommy, Daddy loves them. You sit in a bumper car and drive around hitting other bumper cars. It's so much fun."

"It doesn't sound like fun to me." Brennan was actually quite appalled that her husband actually let their child ride in cars that were hit by other cars. It seemed like a dangerous thing to do to her. "This seems like a risky thing to do, Christine. Cars crashing into each other can cause grave bodily injury."

Amused, Christine giggled. "Oh, Mommy, bumper cars are little cars and they're very safe and you can't really go very fast, so when you hit another bumper car it just shakes you up a little. Daddy always hits a bunch of cars and I do too. It's so much fun, Mommy. Please let's do bumper cars, okay?"

Not willing to agree, Brennan grimly shook her head. "I must first look at these bumper cars and determine if they are safe. I know your father would never jeopardize your life, but his wild enthusiasms can mar his judgement sometimes. If I determine that they are safe then we will do bumper cars?"

Excited because his sister was, Hank jumped up and down. "Me too? I wanna do bumpa cars."

Her children's mood now miraculously changed to happiness, Brennan sighed and pulled Hank into her arms to hug him. "If they are safe, Hank, then yes, you may do bumper cars."

Both children squealed in delight which caused Brennan to smile. She hadn't really seen them smile for two weeks and she was relieved that they were happy for the moment.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Go Kart World was busy, but not so busy that Brennan became discouraged. After she and her children rode on go karts around a track for several turns, Brennan decided that she would like to find something else to do at the amusement park. Hank had ridden with her in one kart while Christine had driven by herself and Brennan was amazed that she had actually enjoyed it, but driving around in circles seemed pointless. Amused, Brennan laughed silently at her own joke.

Pulling on her mother's hand while Brennan carried Hank on her hip, Christine guided her mother towards the bumper cars. Once they arrived, Brennan found a sign that explained what bumper cars were. Surprised that the cars were electric and wide bumpers encircled the small cars, Brennan decided that they might not be as dangerous as she first assumed. After paying for use of two bumper cars, Christine sat in a candy apple red car while Brennan and Hank sat in a vibrant green car. At first Brennan sat still, not moving her car. She observed Christine start her car and ram a school bus yellow car almost immediately. Alarmed when Christine screamed, Brennan quickly realized that the scream was very loud laughter and not a painful cry for help.

While she remained motionless, a child in a tangerine orange car rammed Brennan's car and veered away. Hank stared at his mother in wonder, laughed and started to chant. "Go . . . go . . . go." Since sitting still invited others to hit her, Brennan started her car and was immediately hit by her own daughter. The child laughed and waved at her little brother who waved back. Annoyed, Brennan turned the steering wheel and was immediately hit by a sky blue car. Her annoyance growing, Brennan quickly turned the steering wheel and rammed an aqua blue car. The driver of that vehicle glared at her, which Brennan found amusing. "You were in my way."

The driver of the aqua blue car backed up and before he could try to ram Brennan's car, Christine barreled into him and screamed with laughter.

Her own laughter followed and for the next twenty minutes, Brennan managed to hit several cars and Hank shouted with joy every time to show his approval. Once their time was up, everyone left their electric cars and met outside the paved ring.

"Mommy, you see, I told you this was fun." Her adrenalin coursing through her, the young girl grabbed her mother's hand and shouted. "Please, Mommy, the next time Daddy wants to come here, please come with us . . . please."

Not to be left out of the conversation, Hank shouted even louder. "Pleassssseeeee!"

The children happy, Brennan felt like she had helped them and that made her feel successful and in a way loved. "As long as it's not Daddy Daughter Day, I don't see why not. It might be amusing to ram your father's car a few times."

Christine laughed at the thought. "That would be very funny, Mommy."

"Yes it would Christine, yes it would."

Oooooooooooooooooooo

As she drove up into the driveway, everyone in the car noticed Booth's SUV parked near the garage. Excited, Christine and Hank urged their mother to park and let them out of the car. Once that was accomplished, both children ran to the front door just as it opened.

Booth spied his children and squatted down as they raced towards him. Happy to see them, he pulled them into his arms and kissed each one over and over again. Once Brennan was beside them, he released his children, stood up and embraced his wife. "God I have missed you and the kids so much."

Grateful that he was safe and at home, Brennan kissed him and then released him. "We missed you too, Booth. We missed you too."

Jumping up and down with excitement, Christine tugged on Booth's arm. "Daddy, we rode bumper cars and Mommy is good. She hit a bunch of cars."

Shocked, Booth stared at his wife and wondered what in the world made her try bumper cars or even go to Go Kart World in the first place. "Well, we're going to make that a family thing the next time we go. Bumper cars huh?" Booth laughed and glanced at his daughter. "Well, since I'm the king of bumper cars we'll have to see just how good your Mommy really is."

"Oh, I am good enough to hit you, Booth." Brennan felt like she'd been challenged.

The gauntlet thrown down, Booth gave his wife a wicked grin. "Bring it on Bones. Bring it on."

Ooooooooooooooooo

Okay, I had to put Booth in there somewhere. I hope you liked the story. Let me know what you think of it.


End file.
